Monday, May 11, 2009

A Totally New Experience!

This past weekend I had a chance to capture engagement photos for a couple at the Stanford Pow Wow, which is the largest gathering of Native Americans on the West Coast. We have had this date marked on the calendar for months, since this was a good time to capture photos of this great couple celebrating their culture.

It was a special experience for me to capture people in these amazing outfits, many of which are created by hand by the people wearing them. In this case, Marcos hand beaded much of the outfit that you see Crystal, his lovely fiancee, wearing. Not only did I get a chance to photograph them, I also had a chance to learn about their culture, the music, the dance and their community.

This picture of their good friend's son is one of my favorites from the day. I love the expression on his face and the seriousness of the event for him. After playing with the image for a little while, I realized that it had to be converted to black & white to really make it pop.

At this point you might be wondering who got more out of the day, them (for their pictures) or me for the experience. I hope that we both got more than we expected (at least I know that I did). Thanks Marcos and Crystal!